The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo

I’ve always enjoyed fairy tales and became a bit obsessed once I discovered the darker original Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson collections. This book evokes those tales but the stories have been spun in different and interesting directions, in part because it was created as a volume of fairy tales that the characters in the Grishaverse (the world setting Leigh Bardugo created) would know. In 2012 Leigh’s publisher asked if she would write a prequel story for her first novel Shadow and Bone. But instead of ideas for that, what came to her was the concept of writing stories her […]

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Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Bingo square: This is the End. Also I hit half a cannonball, yay! That was my goal so everything from here on in is extra. There will be some spoilers for the first book in here. Picking up where Six of Crows left off, Crooked Kingdom follows Kaz Brekker and his gang of ne’er-do-wells as they deal with the betrayal and fallout from their heist. Inej has been taken hostage and they don’t have the money promised them. They’re all a bit battered and exhausted but don’t have any downtime to recover before Kaz has them back plotting. For revenge and […]

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

I was one of the people that liked Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman but didn’t love the movie that much (though the scene where she crosses No Man’s Land was pretty amazing). Something about her character felt too naive to me – “humans are innocent, if I kill Ares, all conflict will stop forever.” As a result, I liked this teenage Wonder Woman much more. She believes in helping humans, giving people opportunities, but also doesn’t think that one thing alone can be blamed for human actions and wars. This is why she can be sympathetic to the titular Warbringer […]

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

In the bustling city of Ketterdam, thief Kaz Brekker is a leading member of the street gang, the Dregs. He has a talent for scheming and coming out of close calls, and when a wealthy merchant asks him to do the seemingly impossible, he can’t say no. The task is breaking into the Ice Court, an impenetrable fortress, to retrieve a valuable asset. The score is the millions Kaz is offered if he succeeds. And survives. To pull off the heist, Kaz assembles his crew: Inej, known as The Wraith, a spy; Jesper, a sharpshooter whose downfall is gambling; Nina, […]

Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #1,2) by Leigh Bardugo

Something about the original Grisha trilogy has really stuck with me. At the time that I finished Ruin and Rising, the third book in that series, my passion and protectiveness of the main character Alina inspired a ranty, off-topic diatribe of a review about shipping wherein I was basically mad that other readers didn’t appreciate the book and the ending of the trilogy because they were mad their ship didn’t become canon. It’s a silly thing to become incensed about, but clearly something in the book made me very defensive, and whatever that thing is drove me to recall that […]

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo

As an 8-time Cannonballer, I can’t believe this is the first Leigh Bardugo book I’ve ever picked up. I think I’ve meant to read some of her stuff before…but I guess life just got in my way. I first heard about this book when the great Rainbow Rowell was raving about its utter gorgeousness on her Instagram. I had never heard the term “progressive illustrations” before, so my interest was quickly piqued. (FYI, a progressive illustration is exactly what it sounds like. In this book of short fairy tales, the margins of each page are illustrated with additional art as […]

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Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

3.5 stars. It’s always nice to start the year off with something good, so I’m pleased to report that this one actually mostly lived up to the hype. I’ve been meaning to read Leigh Bardugo for years and finally got around to it. Six of Crows ended up being great company to ring in the new year with. Essentially, this book is about a gang of criminals pulling off a high stakes heist. Picture a teenage, fantasy version of Ocean’s Eleven and you’re close. Except instead of money, they’re stealing a person and the stakes are death and torture instead […]

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys by Edited by April Genevieve Tucholke

This collection contains lots of great horror stories. They are written by some really awesome YA authors as well. Sorry, I’m tired, so I’m going to direct you to my blog for more information. You can read my full review here.